It is time we anthropologists of biomedicine broaden our analytical scope. If it is the case that there is more to life than DNA, cells, tissues and organs; that there is more to disease than mutations, dysregulations and dysfunctions, then how is it that social studies of medicine have attained such a bio bent in recent decades? Of course, medicine …

In 2011 South Africans witnessed a series of animated exchanges between Western Cape Premier Helen Zille and AIDS activists on the question of ‘sexual responsibility’ and the criminalization of HIV positive people who knowingly infect others[1]. Zille, the leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) political opposition, argued that those who behave sexually irresponsibly do not deserve their free …

Broadsheets will keep track of and report on the International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) in Washington D.C. between July 22-27. Reports will rely upon the chatter around the venue, and circulating news in social and popular on-line media. We will specifically pay attention to the presence of the organizations whose websites we have been tracking.

As the International AIDS Conference (aka “AIDS 2012”) approaches, it is fitting to consider the meaning of activism in the response to the epidemic. Historically, not only is the conference a venue for sharing scientific findings, program experiences, and policy implications at a huge, global scale (the conference attracts over 25,000 attendees and is broadcast in real time in many …